***

“A what now?” Applejack asked.

Twilight explained, “The master is hungry during a berserk. She wants food from living creatures. That’s one of the main things we know. None of us mevs are in doubt on that part, right?” she posed to them all.

The other fledgling Awesomevs nodded.

Twilight went on, “If we have ponies, not all ponies, just a select group, ready, informed, and willing to give up their magic on a berserk night, they can try to have her target them instead of all the ponies not in the reserve. Remember, master mevs see adult ponies fleeing as an invitation to attack. The berserk reserve ponies would be a distraction and delay. It would mean that a lot more ponies in Equestria know of you, Master, but we all know our existence is not a secret, given how many ponies and others already do know.”

“I must bring up a point,” Discord interjected. Everyone looked up at him in his created tree. “Master mevs are fast pegasi for a reason. They can reach a lot of magical creatures in a short amount of time without relying on unicorn magic. You would need a massive berserk reserve, to the point you may as well forget about it. A pony as fast as Rainbow could possibly take out both Ponyville and Canterlot in a single night.”

“I don’t know about that…” Twilight said uneasily.

Rainbow nodded nervously, licking her lips in deep, serious contemplation.

“Is there another thing wrong with that idea?” Fluttershy asked, sensing a different unease from her friend. “Besides what Discord just said.”

Rainbow blinked. “Just one thing, but I don’t know or sense it the way I do other master mev things. It’s not from my gut or an instinct, just an idea or concern really.”

“Do go ahead and tell us anyway,” Discord urged, gesturing encouragement with his eagle claw.

“The book mentions that my nocturnivlair is ‘more style than substance, except during a berserk.’ So, even though I would think, from everything else, I’m like some kind of starved beast just attacking and eating from one meal to the next…nocturnivlair with more substance would kinda suggest…I’m actually evil?” she wondered aloud. “More than usual. Like diabolical villain cackling plotting sadistic evil?”

A long, awkward moment of silence passed.

“Well, like you said,” Starlight began. The team’s Primeva decided if she was to step up, she could at least be the one to speak now, “…you don’t know or sense it the way you do other things. Everything else points to that not being the case. You yourself just said you don’t think you would command us to attack anyone.”

Rainbow Dash nodded at that and moved on. “Any other ideas, Twilight?”

“The running theory is that while you’re berserk, you will be mainly focused on eating unicorn magic,” Twilight told her. “You’ll leave pegasi and earth ponies alone unless they get in the way or you’ve run out of the unicorn magic to eat.

“So, their thinking is to have designated officials look into what earth pony communities do compared to a place like Canterlot. Such communities have magic, yes, but it’s mainly in their strength and connection with the land. It’s more passive than active in comparison.

“It’s really hard to say how much a master mev berserk would really hurt us the way Tirek’s rampage did because the state you leave your meals behind in is much more functional. When you ate my magic as your first meal, I could still fly. I also still had my cutie mark like how Starlight and Trixie did when they went through the changeling hive. They couldn’t use unicorn magic, but they still had their cutie marks.

“You said then that you felt it was an instinct to draw the unicorn magic out. But what about now? Your theory then was that you could take cutie mark magic too if you wanted,” Twilight said. “Do your instincts tell you just how bad off we can expect the ponies left behind in your wake would be?”

Everyone looked at Rainbow Dash to see her take pause, considering everything Twilight Sparkle said.

Soon after, the master mev nodded. “They do. Ponies would still have their cutie marks. When Tirek got to a lot of ponies, their eyes got a little discolored. My powers won’t do that.”

“Any idea why?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s difficult to explain, but I’ll try,” Rainbow answered. “Think about it like this. I will not bite children even when berserk,” she reminded everyone.

They all nodded and waited for whatever would be next.

“A cutie mark does not mean you are either a child or an adult, but it is a sign of growing up. It’s a really important part of pony development in our lives. Sweetie knows this quite well,” Rainbow said.

Sweetie Belle nodded quietly and continued listening as all the others did.

“Even berserk, there is something about a master mev that respects or treasures youth, including that particular moment in a grown pony’s life from that youth. The ponies I leave behind will sleep until sunrise. It’s at night after all. Unicorns will be without magic. Pegasi will not be able to fly. They won’t be able to sit or stand on clouds. As for earth ponies, they’ll…” she gulped and winced, searching for the answer.

Her friends waited while she did.

“…struggle. All the ponies will be able to talk and stand and walk. They can still use their hooves and their mouths and tails. Pegasi can use their wings as extra limbs, even if they can’t fly. Stuff like that. But earth ponies have a special connection to the land, and that connection’s going to be disrupted. Not broken exactly, maybe kind of mixed up, thinned out,” Rainbow explained at length as she realized and understood it all, to herself as well.

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Spike thought as he wrote it all down.

“Not as bad as Tirek doesn’t mean it still isn’t bad,” Rainbow reminded him. “But it does mean the princesses are probably on the right track of looking to earth ponies for guidance.”

Twilight nodded and took control of the discussion once again. “Thank you. Both princesses said to leave it in their hooves. The berserk reserve really isn’t our decision, but we would be informed if they choose to use one and can put in our own recommendation. We, Team Awesome, can consider our options for ending a berserk early or where the fledglings should be, but so far as the aftermath, that’s their responsibility.

“They won’t imprison you because they know that this is the very fabric of who and what you are, and that you’ve done all the steps you can to prevent or minimize a berserk from happening. On the other side of this berserk, you are actually a protection for Equestria. We don’t even know what happens to you after a berserk besides that you stop eating. You might be unconscious for some unknown amount of time.

“What happens to us fledglings? How functional will we be during and after that night if we might be tired? They even mentioned maybe possibly trying to activate one on purpose to answer a lot of these questions.” Twilight looked nervously at Rainbow Dash.

“That’s a terrible idea!” Discord proclaimed angrily from his perch. “Not so bad my serpentine tail! You shouldn’t do it Master!” He pointed with an emphatic claw.

“Trust me, they were very uncertain about it,” Twilight added. “It was just a sort of…brainstorming idea…type thing.”

Rainbow nodded, taking in what both Discord and Twilight said. “I’m inclined to agree with the Lord of Chaos here. A berserk is supposed to be for an emergency, and this? This is research, not an emergency. We’ve whittled down the chances as much as we can, and if they are as minuscule as we all hope, then I cannot possibly justify activating one on purpose.”

The others quietly nodded in agreement.

“Primeva,” Rainbow said with authority. “I agree with Rexa. You will have to step up. You are in charge if I ever go berserk, so you come up with ideas on what to do. I suggest you work with the others on this without me. Just notify me if I have some extra part I can play to help somehow. I should be left in the dark as much as possible. Don’t even tell me if they use a berserk reserve.”

Starlight Glimmer nodded as she replied, “I’m on it, Master. You can count on me.”

“I know I can,” Rainbow said. “Anything else Rexa?”

“That’s all for my talk with the princesses, but so far as being a mev…” Twilight blushed. “I um…I made a request,” she said with a shy smile to the others. “I asked Master if she might try growing a unicorn horn during a flexchange so it would be like being with an alicorn.”

“Oh, that’s so romantic,” Rarity touched a hoof to her chest.

Sweetie Belle blinked as a small blush flushed in her cheeks. She stayed quiet, listening intently to the scene.

“That must have felt mighty special,” Applejack said.

“It was,” Twilight assured them all with a contented smile.

“We can make requests?” Pinkie Pie asked, wagging her tail with interest.

Rainbow’s eyes met hers, and she stated quite seriously, “If it pleases you. The master takes care of her fledglings after all.”

Pinkie blinked and suddenly blushed, shyly lowering and backing into her seat.

“That is all,” Twilight concluded.

“That leaves you, Master,” Sweetie noted. “As a number seven.”

“Oh, right,” Rainbow recalled. “I’m going to actually talk about Project Mercury now since there’s one main thing to report. Like Rarity and Applejack said, we did a test confidence run. I used unicorn magic to grow Scootaloo’s wings to the exact size we think we’ll need. Rarity helped create these sort of feather gloves so that I could get a real eye and feel for the difference as closely as possible.”

“And?” Fluttershy pressed for more.

“She struggled at first but not long. Once I reminded her to think of her dreams and swimming in Seaquestria, Scootaloo was able to fly. Even if we can’t pull off the real deal in the end, my little sister got a flight in live Ponyville for at least once in her life. She was very happy about that and so was I.”

Numerous “Awww” statements echoed across the table.

Sweetie smiled quietly to herself at happiness for her close friend.

“Since I chose the Crystal Empire to visit this past week, we didn’t get any of the intended magic for our planned solution to Mercury. I’ll also note, I requested Princess Cadance’s magic and magic from a crystal pony. She has denied these requests for the time being but will be working on an appropriate time when she is ready. We are to bring Amara with us on any future visits to the Crystal Empire,” Rainbow informed everyone.

The other mevs nodded in acknowledgment with nothing else to add.

“Yesterday, I visited Captain Celaeno. I informed her and her crew of my being a master mev, that Starlight is my Primeva, and that I have a pack without specifics of numbers and other names,” Rainbow stated.

“How did they take that news?” Twilight wondered.

“Quite well,” Rainbow said with a smile. “I even got to show off Blitz.”

Twilight smiled.

“Is there a particular reason you did that?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, if you haven’t heard,” Twilight chose to explain, “Rainbow took the students to Celaeno’s ship for the field trip. The students raved about it when they got back today.”

“Master and I stopped to ask about bringing them yesterday before our trip, while taking the time to tell them about being vampires first,” Starlight explained a little more. “So they got to see Blitz without the students around after Rainbow revealed herself.”

“Way to go Master!” Pinkie Pie cheered.

“Yeah, it was pretty cool seeing the crew again. I’m glad the field trip was as awesome I hoped it would be,” Rainbow said. “But back to pack stuff! Spike, you and Rarity are going to see Pee Wee Thursday, right?”

Spike stopped his scribbling and looked up at her. “Yeah,” he said with a hint of hesitance.

“I want to go with you,” Rainbow told him.

Spike looked over to Rarity, who nodded pleasantly, then to Twilight, who nodded with a small smile of her own. He blinked and gulped. “Why? You’re not going to bite him, are you?”

“Only if he lets me,” Rainbow said, unfazed by the question. “I want to see if I can find a way to talk to him and then maybe ask about that and some other questions. I promise he’ll be safe.”

“You’re not taking Fluttershy too?” Pinkie wondered aloud.

“I’m busy tomorrow with the sanctuary,” Fluttershy explained. “And besides, Master does have some of my magic in her.”

“Good point,” Rainbow acknowledged. “Plus, I want to try something my gut’s telling me to do by calling on Blitz for help as well.”

“The leviathan dread?” Spike asked and sounding worried.

“I’ve seen Blitz in her full size in the ocean itself, and she obeyed Rainbow’s instructions to not hurt anyone. She’s actually quite nice,” Twilight assured him.

“I must agree,” Rarity added. “Sweetie has even played with her.”

Sweetie nodded. “I have. She’s lots of fun.”

“Not to mention I’ll be there to help in any way I can,” Rarity reminded Spike.

“Blitz was very charming when I met her,” Fluttershy offered up as well.

That collective set of statements calmed the purple dragon down. “Okay. Okay,” he nodded. “Okay.”

“Great! Thanks buddy. I think that’s it for my turn. Oh wait, actually one more…I went into a frenzy over the idea of Nightmare Night last night.”

“It must be a thing that happens when you get really excited, maybe if it has to do with being a master mev,” Twilight theorized.

“We have only the two, but that sounds about right to me,” Rainbow agreed. “Now that’s it for my turn through these rounds. Rhezenda, what’s on the agenda?” she queried with an amused smile at her sudden rhyme.

“Nightmare Night,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile too.

The Awesomevs cheered again.

“Yes!” Rainbow pumped a hoof. “Team Awesome, I have a challenge for you,” she declared with a daring pride and stride in her voice.

The fledglings smiled with quiet anticipation.

“If you have not already felt this truth, let it be said that on Nightmare Night, I can use all the magic I want for fun and not be taking from the reserve. Thanks to our good friend here, Discord, Lord of Chaos,” she gestured upward and Discord took a proud bow. She continued on, “…I have access to chaos magic. My goal is to ride Blitz in her solid form while cackling maniacally to drum up a sort of party fear we all know from this special night and doing that without actually terrorizing the outsiders.

“I think we should announce ourselves, let them know that Team Awesome is the mev pack in their midst. Some of Ponyville already knows, much more than one pony. For the others, some of them may believe us, some of they may not, but if we pull this off in just the right way, it will ultimately not matter.

“They will know that if we are real, they can party with us.” Rainbow smiled mischievously and looked over to Pinkie who was grinning. “And that if they don’t believe us, they saw an amazing show on Nightmare Night. It is to be a performance like no other! That is what your Master desires.”

“We can set the stage at my family’s farm,” Applejack offered with enthusiasm. “It’s a known hub already for Ponyville on Nightmare Night.”

“I can make fliers,” Rarity stated happily. “We will announce ourselves before we announce ourselves to truly signify our intent to perform.”

Sweetie Belle raised a hoof.

“Yes, Rhezenda?” Rainbow asked.

“Since I’m a link to the outsiders, I’d like it if I could be a sort of announcer or an MC for this show. And since you can use any magic you want, I could be any form you want, like my adult form or even pegasus or alicorn or a bat pony, whatever you want, Master. I want in on the fun and the magic,” Sweetie told Rainbow Dash.

“I like the way you think,” Rainbow said. “Yes, you and I will have more time to work on that part.”

“Maybe we could all be bat ponies together,” Fluttershy suggested with a sweet smile.

“Could we really?” asked a hopeful Applejack.

“I’m certain it can be done,” Rainbow declared. “Quintaza and Rexa, you two are in charge of organizing and coordinating all the stuff we just said.”

Pinkie Pie saluted most seriously. “You’ve got it, Master. This is going to be the best Nightmare Night party performance ever. I will see to it.”

“I’ll be happy to do my part,” Twilight agreed. “Spike’s already been writing a lot of it down. Right, Spike?”

“Yup,” Spike noted amidst his continued scribbling.

Discord was chewing popcorn from his perch. “Can I join?” he asked.

“The focus must be on the pack,” Rainbow told him, “so if you are to join, you, like Sweetie Belle, will do so as support. You’ll already be support because I’m going to need lessons on how to do some of this stuff. Still, get with Pinkie and Twilight to see if they have a role for you to do. We Awesomevs are the stars of the show. Got it?”

Discord nodded and gave a little salute. “Got it,” he replied with a sincere smile.

“Next?” Rainbow asked Sweetie Belle.

“Where to next?” Sweetie said, looking at her notes. “For visiting other kingdoms.”

“Oh yes,” Rainbow said. “I’m thinking Griffonstone with me, Starlight and…Fluttershy. Sunday all or most of the day, just like I did with the Crystal Empire this week.”

“I’m there,” Starlight agreed immediately.

Fluttershy nodded. “I can do that.”

“How are you going to get the idol of Boreas from the Abysmal Abyss?” Pinkie asked.

“The obvious answer would be to use chaos magic to teleport it from wherever it is right into my hooves or presence,” Rainbow said, “but that’s an easy out. It would be better if we can do it without that, to only use the chaos magic as a support. Just like the flexchanges that fill the reserve, there’s a magic in the process itself.

“We are friends with the griffons, and friendship magic with mev magic does amazing things. Add in only a dash of chaos.” The master mev gestured to Amara in her case on the table and gave a little wink. “Griffonstone has no king or ruler of any kind, and is not structured in the same way that the Crystal Empire or Mount Aris are. I need to talk to Grampa Gruff or Gilda to get some kind of permission to even try first. Since Starlight will be with me, we’ll have powerful unicorn magic we can use before resorting to reserved draconequis chaos magic. With two pegasi and two unicorns, Sweetie is going too, we might figure something out for how to get through those winds.”

“Oh, I hope you all can do it!” Pinkie proclaimed.

“Obviously they can,” Discord stated with confidence. “Even if it does end up being easy mode chaos magic, there will have been a process in the attempt made first.”

“Neat,” Pinkie said.

“We do still hope it can be managed properly,” Rarity stated.

“Okay, I think that’s it for tonight,” Rainbow said glancing over Sweetie’s notes and agenda. “All of you are dismissed. Magic lessons are up next for me.”

Starlight and Discord nodded. They smiled with quiet eagerness.